The other day, I was asked to talk to some 9th grade girls in their Sunday school class. Even though I said yes, I had no idea what I was going to say to them. To be honest, I’ve hit a kind of dry spell, if you can call it that, in my spiritual life, and the last thing I felt like doing was pretend to be better than a bunch of people, sharing wisdom and Bible verses like I was an expert.
What are you supposed to do in situations like that? I never turn down an opportunity to practice speaking to people. And I was sure I had to have some kind of information that those girls didn’t know. But I felt like such a hypocrite.
I told this to my boyfriend, who said that it was interesting question that he’d thought about before. What about pastors? They’re supposed to preach on the whole Bible and everything it teaches, but everyone always struggles with something. So is the preacher being a hypocrite if he preaches on something that he’s not good at?
The thing is, we’re never going to be 100% in every aspect of our lives. But that shouldn’t stop us from doing what we can to help others. Failing at something in my life shouldn’t stop me from lifting others up. Sometimes I can get so discouraged and want to give up because my sin feels so overwhelming. But I think of the people God used in the Bible, screwups and failures every one.
So I went to that Sunday school class and talked to the girls about having a relationship with God, even though mine wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.
It sucks, because I want to be the example. I want my actions and words to line up. But God didn’t call those who are always good (there are no such people, btw); he didn’t put stipulations on serving other people. We’re supposed to do that all the time, no matter how we’re feeling.
Talking about how important it is to have a relationship with our God to others made me realize the importance of putting God first again, so it not only benefited the girls I was speaking to, but it encouraged me, too.
I’m thankful that God wants to use me, no matter how messed up I am. I’m grateful He hasn’t given up on me.